Canon's New Movie Camera Goes to 4,560,000 ISO. So Yeah, It Can See in the Dark

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Canon's New Movie Camera Goes to 4,560,000 ISO. So Yeah, It Can See in the Dark

Have you ever wanted to be able to see in the dark? Canon's latest high-end video camera, the ME20F-SH, lets you shoot a scene in close to pitch black and record it all in full-res HD video. The camera can go to 4,560,000 ISO—it's hard to grasp what that even means, but put simply, you could conceivably light a portrait using only the light emitted by a single firefly.

Canon attributes the camera's remarkable low-light capabilities to the sensor's 19-micron pixels. A 19-micron pixel is HUGE. That's between two and four times the size of the pixels found in most other cameras. Think of them like a well. The bigger the well, the more water (or in this case, light) they can take up. But those superpowers come at a cost. Due to the size of the pixels, Canon could only fit enough on a full-frame sensor for a 1080p image. That's a bummer, but honestly, when I'm creating our videos at WIRED, just about everything I shoot in 4K gets downsized to 1080p anyway. Still, it would be nice to have the higher-res option here.

The ME20F-SH also costs $20,000 for just the body—one that has no internal recorder, viewfinder, or battery mount. It's essentially just a dope metal box with a sweet new sensor. Canon's releasing a kit that will provide all those crucial components for an extra $1,0001. Aside from the heavy price tag, you'll also have to build a rig every time you shoot, which is a pain for a fast-paced shoot, but it's also pretty fun. I personally find a lot of joy in being able to pick and choose various components to fit my needs.

It must be asked: Why fork over $20k for a low-light camera when you could just get a Sony A7S II, which comes around a one fifth of the price? Admittedly, this crossed my mind too, so I shot some head-to-head footage, capturing the same scene in the same light with both cameras. Although the Sony's low-light performance held up pretty well, sometimes even better than the ME20F-SH, the two cameras are in a totally different class, which was pretty apparent once I had the camera in my hands.

Picking up the Canon for the first time, I could immediately tell how well-built the ME20F-SH is. (Yeah that model number is brutal—we've taken to calling it the Me-20-Fish.) The entire body is all metal, making it incredibly sturdy and ready to take on some rough shooting environments. I didn't throw it out of a window or try to blend it, but I'm pretty sure this camera can offers years of heavy service.

Out of the box, the Me-20-Fish comes equipped with some great tools, including built-in neutral density filters, an infrared cut filter, a 2x and 4x teleconverter, a cine-style lock mount for lenses, and two HD-SDI ports. It also isn't just a low-light camera. It's a really great camera that makes really great images in daylight. It's clearly built with some serious filmmaking in mind.

Thanks to the omission of all those components mentioned earlier, it weighs only 2.4 pounds and is just a bit larger than a 4-inch cube. That sleek and light cube design, along with various mounting points, make it easy to incorporate into any rig, especially something like a MOVI or drone where the shape and space of a camera is really important.

Canon envisions this camera being used in any situation. We've already seen people take this to film the northern lights, bioluminescent creatures underwater, and a number of dimly lit nooks and tunnels of cities and forests. But it won't stop there. I'm waiting for someone to film a Pink Floyd tribute video literally on the dark side of the moon. The ME20F-SH will be ready for the job.

1UPDATE: 12pm ET. 04/13/16: Post has been updated to the correct dollar amount.